Logos are an essential part of any business; they’re the bright face that greets your consumer and the signature that makes you memorable. Having a solid and unique logo could be the difference between being the most popular in the market and the second in line. When you sit down to create a logo for your small business, here are five important things to remember. 1. Keep it simple. A good logo is basic, uncluttered, and has the right combinations of colors. Choosing the right colors can help your business. That is why many restaurants use the color red in their company logos, as it is a color that makes people hungry or think of food. 2. Attract some attention. Create your company logo with the purpose of grabbing the attention of those quickly passing by. Make your logo’s image something that forces people to take notice of it. One or two colors or symbols are usually enough. Remember, a fast moving car on a freeway isn’t going to have time to see all the details of an overly cluttered or super colorful logo. 3. Be creative. Your goal is to make your company’s logo design so unique and publicly recognizable that wherever it is seen, the public mind will instantly register your product, your company name, and assign that logo image to your business. It is then that the visual connection has been skillfully shaped inside the public mind. Even small toddlers recognize the capital ‘C’ and ‘N’ sitting side-by-side, in black and white boxes, as the logo of Cartoon Network. Just try to scroll through the television...

Fear is a very real thing, and it’s reasonable to be fearful when you take on something as daunting as running a home business. Being afraid doesn’t mean you’re not brave. However, fear that isn’t managed affects your actions and decisions, and can be detrimental to your success as a business owner. Here are four different ways fear influences your ability to run a business: You won’t take profitable risks. If you’re afraid, you’re less likely to be daring. Running a home business is a daring experience. Much like a stock trader who holds their stocks too tight, you’ll never prosper if you never take a chance. This can mean making investments you’re unsure about to improve your business, or reducing the prices of your products to draw in more customers, or changing the entire look of your website. This could all go very wrong, but it could also go very right. You must be willing to take risks. Your work will suffer from the stress. If you’re more worried about making your bills than you are making your business successful, your attention will be on the money and not the product. Consumers can tell the difference. If your product is suffering, then your profits are suffering, and you’ve fulfilled your own worse fear. You cannot let the stress of your needs affect the way you run your business. If there is actually something to be improved, then improve it, but make sure you’re doing so from a professional perspective and not a fear-based one. Your attitude will change. Say you’re intimidated by the thought of people not taking...

Everyone fails. If you haven’t failed, then you haven’t tried. Failure is never something to be ashamed of, as long as you’re learning from it, and it absolutely must be dealt with. You cannot learn and move on until you address your mistakes. So when you’re at the bottom of the barrel, remember these things: Allow yourself time to take it in. When you’re faced with failure, you’re often flooded with a wash of negative emotions that compel you to catch all the broken pieces before they hit the ground. However, rash decisions lead to greater failure. Take the time to walk away from the situation and breathe. Eat something, get a drink, read a book – fire is not raining from the sky, you can benefit from a renewed perspective. Then come back and evaluate the situation. Realize it’s not the end of the world. There are very few things in life that are a complete “end game” with no hope of rebuilding. Yes, maybe you financially bankrupted your company, but what is bankruptcy? A do-over. Yes, it’s hard, but it’s not the end of the world. Henry Ford filed bankruptcy, and yet Ford trucks are in high demand! Look at in it bite-sized pieces. Now that you’re evaluating your situation, don’t overwhelm yourself with the whole elephant at once. Stop and break it apart into chucks you can handle – what is one element of the failure? What repercussions does that have? Alright, what’s another portion to the failure? What is the punishment from that? Plot out the issue and see what the real odds are. Remember...

They say there’s nothing new under the sun. This is especially true in the marketing realm, where business owners are constantly at work to come up with something fresh and engaging. It can be overwhelming, and it’s especially tempting to look to others’ ideas when creating something of your own. The trouble comes when the line between drawing inspiration and stealing is called into question. Should you not reference anyone at all? Or is it alright to look for inspiration? The Dangers of Copying: You can be sued. It’s called plagiarism, and it sucks. If you’re mirroring a logo, a website design, ect., too closely, then you’ll run into some very real legal issues. If you remodel your website to be the same look as Amazon, it doesn’t matter if you make the font a blue instead of a black – people can tell the difference and you’re breaking copyrighting laws. You won’t stand out as original. Originality is very important when making a name for your business. No one said you had to reinvent the wheel, but you make an impression upon potential customers in how you present yourself. If your first foot forward is clearly too similar to another business, then customers won’t think, “Hey, that’s a catchy slogan.” They’ll think, “That is such a rip-off.” It could result in your business looking low quality and cheap – a fatal blow. Advertising will be harder. Your business needs to have a unique flavor. If something about your business engages the customer — your name, logo, slogan – then you’re sticking in their mind. That’s the goal of...

When creating a company, the most important part can be coming up with a name. You can offer the most amazing products at the most affordable prices, or provide wonderful services with raving approval from customers, but it won’t amount to much unless you’re marketable. Your name is a part of the first impression you make upon a consumer, and if they don’t remember it, they’ll have trouble finding you in the future. If they don’t like it, then they may choose another company with a more appealing title. These little details have a profound impact on the customers, and therefore, your business. Here are some tips to come up with a good company name: Make it memorable. When choosing a name for your company, make sure it’s one that will cement in the consumer’s head. Think of all the companies you know and their names. What about their names makes it spring to your mind? Is it the way the words rhythm? Is it the catchy but short sound? Find something that makes it memorable and apply that technique to your name. Make it unique. When someone says your company’s name, their thoughts should go straight to your business and your business alone. There is danger in making your name too similar to another company’s. Minds will go to something that is familiar. If you name your grocery store WilliamMart, people’s minds will still go straight to WalMart and leave your brand name behind. It doesn’t matter that your name is longer and clearly different. It will stop you from making a strong reputation for yourself, because you’ll...

People are leaving their 9-to-5 jobs for the comfort of home offices in masses. Some are met with failure and some are met with raging success. While it might seem ideal and comfortable, there are challenges that independent workers face every day. It may or may not be for you. You must have the nerve for it. Working from home is much like trading in the stocks. Some days you’ll make an outrageous amount of money and be sure all your problems are over. Then the following day, you’ll lose a fortune. It’s easy to fall into despair. Working from home is a very uncertain task, because you don’t have a boss to ensure you have work and steady pay. If you’re not comfortable with the limbo that comes without an office, a boss, and steady hours, then you’re likely not suited for working at home. You must have discipline. Working from home means you decide your own workload and hours; this is often what draws people in. However, it’s easy to become distracted and procrastinate until you’re missed your deadline. Many find this luxury more difficult than helpful. To combat this, you must be strict with yourself. If you have a deadline to meet, then you’ll have to accept working long hours. This can mean working nights, weekends, and holidays in order to fulfill your responsibilities. You don’t have a boss to blame or co-workers to pick up the slack; it’s on you. You must balance your time well and exercise discipline with your workload. You must be able to work without guidance. You won’t have a boss...